REVENUE 


AND  EXPENDITURES. 


SPEECH 

OF 

HON.  JOHN  SHERMAN,  OF  OHIO. 

- o - 

Delivered  in  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  May  7,  1800. 


The  House  resolved  itself  into  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  re¬ 
sumed  the  consideration  of  the  tariff  bill. 

Mr.  SHERMAN.  Mr.  Chairman :  The  revenue 
act  of  March,  3,  1857,  which  it  is  now  proposed  to 
repeal,  has  proved  to  be  a  crude,  ill-advised,  and 
ill-digested  measure.  It  was  never  acted  upon  in 
detail  in  either  branch  of  Congress,  but  was  the 
result  of  a  committee  of  conference  in  the  last  days 
of  the  session,  and  was  finally  passed  by  a  com¬ 
bination  of  hostile  interests  and  sentiments.  It 
was  adopted  at  a  time  of  inflated  prices,  when  the 
Treasury  was  overflowing  with  revenue.  When 
that  condition  of  affairs  ceased,  it  failed  to  fur¬ 
nish  ordinary  revenue,  and  by  its  incidental  ef¬ 
fects  operated  injuriously  to  nearly  every  branch 
of  industry. 

It  went  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  July,  1857. 
At  that  time  there  was  in  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  a  balance  of  $17,710,114.  The 
amount  of  the  public  debt  then  remaining  un¬ 
paid — none  of  which  was  then  due — was  a  little 
over  $29,000,000.  So  that  there  was  in  the 
Treasury  of  the  United,  States,  when  the  tariff  act 
of  1857  went  into  operation,  nearly  enough  to 
have  paid  two-thirds  of  the  public  debt.  Within 
one  year  from  that  time,  the  public  debt  was  in¬ 
creased  to  $44,910,777.  On  the  1st  of  July,  1859, 
the  public  debt  had  increased  to  $58,754,699. 
On  the  1st  of  May,  1860,  as  nearly  as  I  can  ascer¬ 
tain,  the  public  debt  has  risen  to  $65,681,099. 
The  balance  in  the  Treasury  on  the  1st  of  July 
next,  a3  estimated  by  me,  will  be  $1,919,349. 

Thus  it  is  shown,  that,  under  the  operation  of 
the  tariff  of  1857,  the  deficit  in  the  revenue  in 
three  years  is  over  $52,000,000.  It  may  be 
stated  thus  : 

Balance  in  the  Treasury  July  1,  1857 . .  .$17,710,114 

Balance  in  the  Treasury  July  1, 1860,  estimated..  1,919,349 

15,790,665 

Amount  of  public  debt  May  1 , 1860, . .  $65,681 ,199 
Amount  of  public  debt  July  1 , 1857. . .  29,060,386 

- 36,620,813 

52,411,578 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  from  the  report  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  condition  of 


our  finances  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1860.  I  have  prepared  a  statement  of  receipts 
and  expenditures,  based  upon  the  actual  sums 
received  and  paid  for  three-quarters  of  the  year, 
and  the  Secretary's  estimate  for  the  last  quarter. 
It  is  as  follows  : 


9 


The  total  expenditures  will  be  $67, 702.818,  and 
the  receipts  from  all  sources  will  be  $58,950,445, 
thus  showing  a  deficit  l’or  this  fiscal  year  of 
$8,852,373.  It  thus  appears,  that  during  the 
present  fiscal  year,  a  year  of  great  commercial 
prosperity,  the  ordinary  receipts  have  been  in¬ 
sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  by  over  $8,000,000,  and  that  too  at  a  time 
when  the  expenses  of  the  Government  have  been 
largely  reduced  below  what  they  were  but  one 
year  ago.  It  is  very  easy  to  see,  if  this  system 
of  finance  is  persisted  in,  that  the  debt  of  this 
Government  in  a  few  years  will  approach  the 
debt  of  one  of  the  European  Governments.  It 
is  impossible  that  any  Government  can  be  prop¬ 
erly  carried  on  under  this  system  of  finance. 
Therefore  the  argument  is  perfectly  clear  that, 
unless  a  different  state  of  facts  exists  in  the  fu¬ 
ture,  the  present  tariff  bill  will  be  wholly  insuffi¬ 
cient  to  pay  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment. 

This  deficit  is  not  merely  temporary,  but  it  is 
permanent.  During  the  present  fiscal  year,  the 
importations  into  this  country  will  amount  to 
over  $412,000,000,  or  $50,000,000  more  than  in 
1857 — higher  than  ever  before.  Although  the 
importations  have  gone  up  thus,  yet  they  have 
not,  under  the  present  tariff,  produced  sufficient 
revenue  to  pay  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the 
Government.  We  must,  therefore,  consider  one 
of  three  propositions.  We  must  either  diminish 
the  expenditures  of  the  Government,  increase  the 
public  debt,  or  increase  the  revenue.  I  take  it 
that  no  one  in  our  day  desires  to  increase  the 
national  debt.  The  idea  that  a  national  debt  is 
a  national  blessing  is  an  absurd  one,  which 
should  never  have  been  tolerated ;  and  I  believe 
that  no  respectable  political  party  proposes  that 
the  Government  should  go  on  as  it  has  for  three 
years  past,  on  the  public  credit.  I  do  not  sup¬ 
pose  that  any  other  Administration  than  the 
present  one  would  tolerate  the  practice  for  three 
years. 

Now,  can  we  diminish  the  expenditures  ?  That 
is  the  first  question  to  which  I  desire  to  direct 
the  attention  of  the  Committee.  I  have  be¬ 
fore  me  a  table,  which  has  been  carefully  pre¬ 
pared,  showing  that  the  estimates  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  for  the  next  fiscal  year,  for  ordi¬ 
nary  purposes,  reached  $46,278,893.  Including 
the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  the  expenses 
of  collecting  the  revenue,  and  other  permanent 
appropriations,  amounting  to  $8,173,582,  the  to¬ 
tal  amount  estimated  for  i3  $54,492,475.  But, 
sir,  to  this  is  to  be  added  a  vast  number  of  ap¬ 
propriations  asked  for  by  the  several  Depart¬ 
ments,  but  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
totally  ignores.  He  declares  that  he  asks  but 
for  $54,452,475;  yet  other  Departments  of  the 
Government  estimate  for  other  appropriations  to 
the  amount  of  $9,606,250.  I  wish  to  warn  my 
political  friends,  if  they  vote  these  appropria¬ 
tions,  they  will  be  placed  precisely  in  the  same 
position  that  they  were  in  the  Thirty-fourth 
Congress.  They  will  be  told  that  these  appro¬ 
priations  were  the  extravagance  of  a  Republican 
House,  and  were  made  in  the  face  of  the  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  although  the 


8,173,582.-13 


appropriations  were  asked  for  by  the  appropriate 
Departments  of  the  Government.  For  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  showing  the  character  of  these  estimates, 
I  have  prepared  a  statement  of  most  of  them,  as 
follows :  ’ 

Estimates  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the  service 

of  the  year  1861 . S46.27S, 803.56 

Interest  on  the  public  dobt . $3, 3S6, 621.34 

For  expenses  collecting  revenue 

from  imports .  2,000,000.00 

Other  permanent  appropriations,  2,786,961.14 

The  following  estimates  not  embraced  in 
those  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and 
amounts  embraced  in  bills  now  before  both 
Houses  of  Congress  : 

Estimates  lor  public  works  in  the  course  of  con¬ 
struction  . $2,282,400.00 

Completion  Washington  aqueduct  500,000.00 

Public  buildings  and  grounds _  44,418.4* 

Estimate  Third  Auditor  of  the 
Treasury,  payment  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  war  debt....  2,714,808.55 
Enlargement  of  public  grounds. .  168,250.00 

Texas  regiment,  Senate  amend¬ 
ment  to  Military  Academy  bill . .  779 ,392.03 

Light-house  bill,  reported  by 

Committee  on  Commerce .  653,000.00 

Restoring  mail  service,  in  Post 

Office  bill,  1860 .  500,000.00 

Restoring  mail  service,  in  Post 

Office  bill,  1861 .  1,539,221.00 

Mail  routes  established  in  1858 
and  Kansas .  425,160.00 

„  .  „  ,  9,606.250.05 

Estimate  of  the  amount  required  to  satisfy  bills 
bofore  Congress  : 

Interest  on  Pacific  railroad. ..  j .  .$3,000,000.00 

Private  bills,  &c.,  &c .  1,<C0.0!0.0U 

-  4,000,000.00 

French  spoliations .  5,000,010.00 

Amistad  claim .  50,000.00 

- -  5,050,000.00 

73,108,726.99 


Among  them  are  estimates  for  continuing  pub¬ 
lic  buildings  in  the  course  of  construction.  This 
is  mostly  for  the  Charleston  and  New  Orleans 
custom-houses,  and  for  the  Treasury  extension. 
These  appropriations  are  asked  for;  and  gentle¬ 
men  hf  re,  who  will  vote  against  this  or  any  other 
tariff  bill,  yet  urge  the  pressing  necessity  of  these 
appropriations.  But  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas¬ 
ury,  who  should  take  a  view  of  the  whole  field 
of  expenditures,  totally  ignores  them  in  hi3  esti¬ 
mates.  The  Washington  aqueduct,  the  Oregon 
and  Washington  war  debt,  the  enlargement  of 
the  public  grounds,  and  the  Texas  mounted  regi¬ 
ment,  have  been,  or  will  all  be,  pressed  upon  us. 
and  yet  neither  is  included  in  the  estimates' 
They  will  be  voted  for  by  the  friends  of  the  Ad¬ 
ministration,  and  yet  all  know  there  are  no  means 
provided  for  their  payment.  They  will  create 
the  necessity  for  new  revenue,  and  then  gener¬ 
ally  vote  against  increasing  the  revenue,  and  go 
before  the  people  clamoring  about  new  taxes 
and  tariffs.  Charged  with  the  administration  of 
the  Government,  yet  they  expect  the  Opposition 
to  vote  them  supplies  for  all  sorts  of  demands, 
to  furnish  them  revenue  against  their  votes,  or 
they  will  pay  the  salaries  of  their  officials  by  in¬ 
creasing  the  public  debt. 

As  an  example,  take  the  proposed  regiment  of 
volunteers  for  Texas,  which  measure  is  now 
pressed  by  the  representatives  of  Texas.  The 


I  ^position  wag  voted  for  by  every  member  of 
thd  other  side,  aDd  perhaps  by  some  members  on 
this  side  of  the  House.  If  this  be  granted,  then 
here  is  an  addition  to  the  expenditures  of  the 
Government  of  nearly  $1,000,000  j  and  we  on 
this  side  of  the  House,  who  are  desirous  of 
raising  the  revenue  sufficient  to  meet  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  Government,  will  be  charged  with 
having  appropriated  this  large  sum,  not  esti¬ 
mated  for,  although  nearly  all  of  us  will  vote 
against  it ;  and  those  who  vote  for  it  will,  in  the 
main,  oppose  all  measures  to  raise  revenue  to 
meet  it.  In  my  judgment,  the  best  mode  to 
meet  this  new  system  of  financial  tactics  is  to  re¬ 
fuse  all  appropriations  for  all  new  objects  of  ex¬ 
penditure  until  some  proper  revenue  is  provided. 

Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  also  a  light-house  bill, 
which  has  been,  or  will  be,  reported,  and  which 
asks  for  an  appropriation  of  $653,000.  There  is 
a  proposition  for  the  restoration  of  the  mail  ser¬ 
vice,  which  everybody  seems  to  be  in  favor  of, 
and  which  will  require  over  $2,000,000.  Let  me 
call  your  attention  to  the  cost  of  that  measure. 
Although  our  constituents  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  have  called  upon  us  to  increase  or  re¬ 
store  the  mail  service,  yet  I  believe  that  the  Post¬ 
master  General  did  right  in  reducing  it.  It  is  the 
only  reform  instituted  by  this  Administration. 
Gentlemen  upon  this  as  well  as  upon  the  other 
side  should  remember  that  their  mandatory  re¬ 
striction  will  increase  the  expenses  of  the  Post 
Office  Department  over  $2,000,000. 

In  addition  to  these  items,  there  is  a  bill  pend¬ 
ing  in  this  House  which  I  hope  will  pass,  and 
that  is  the  bill  for  the  construction  of  a  Pacific 
railroad,  which  will  require  $3,000,000  a  year  to 
pay  the  interest  upon  the  $60,000,000  appropri¬ 
ated.  In  my  judgment,  it  will  cost  much  more. 
I  am  willing  to  appropriate  any  amount  neces¬ 
sary  to  aid  in  building  a  Pacific  railroad ;  but, 
in  our  present  financial  condition,  it  is  proper 
and  necessary  that  we  should  look  to  the  cost. 
The  Democratic  party,  in  both  its  branches,  at 
Charleston,  recently  declared  that  that  party  was 
in  favor  of  the  construction  of  a  Pacific  railroad. 
As  we  on  this  side  always  favored  it,  we  cer¬ 
tainly  should,  in  framing  a  revenue  law,  look  to 
this  new  charge  upon  the  public  Treasury.  Then 
there  are  private  bills  pressed  upon  us  constantly. 
Upon  this  hasty  review  of  the  demands  upon  the 
Treasury,  we  cannot  safely  estimate  that  the  ex¬ 
penditures  for  the  next  fiscal  year  will  be  less 
than  $65,000,000,  exclusive  of  the  principal  of 
the  public  debt.  Can  this  estimate  be  reduced 
without  injury  to  the  public  service? 

I  desire  now  to  say  that  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  who  have  had  charge  of  ap¬ 
propriation  bills,  have  endeavored,  faithfully  and 
honestly,  without  regard  to  party  divisions — and 
all  parties  in  this  House  are  represented  in  that 
committee — to  cut  down  the  appropriations  to 
the  lowest  practicable  point,  and  thus  to  reduce 
the  expenses  of  the  Government.  I  have  before 
me  a  table,  showing  that,  upon  the  estimates 
submitted  to  us  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas¬ 
ury,  for  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  we  have  been  able  to  reduce  the  amount 
about  $1,230,000.  It  is  as  follows : 


Amount  in  bills  as  reported  by  committee _  45,048,875.73 

Add  permanent  appropriations,  excluding  in¬ 
terest  on  the  public  debt,  amounting  to. . . .  4,786,961.00 


49,835,836.73 

Add-interest  pa  public-debt^— _ _ _ _  3,386,621.00 


53,222,457.73 


If  the  House  will  take  the  bills  as  reported  by 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  instead  of 
the  estimates  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
they  will  save  the  Government  about  $1,500,000. 
But  I  cannot  say  that  I  expect  they  will  do  so, 
because  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  very  items 
which,  upon  the  fairest  examination,  we  have 
found  to  be  too  large  or  unnecessary  for  the 
public  service,  and  have  therefore  reduced,  will 
be  put  upon  the  bills,  either  by  this  House  or  in 
the  Senate ;  and,  no  doubt,  the  bills  will  be  over¬ 
loaded  with  Senate  amendments  of  four  or  five 
million  more,  as  has  been  the  case  during  every 
Congress  since  I  have  been  a  member  of  this 
House.  If,  however,  the  estimates  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means  and  their  reductions 
are  sanctioned,  the  ordinary  appropriations  for 
the  Government  will  be  reduced  to  $45, 048, S^, 
aside  from  the  public  debt  and  the  permanent 
appropriations.  And,  in  my  judgment,  if  we 
would  devote  our  time  to  a  fair  investigation 
of  the  ordinary  operations  of  the  Government, 
we  might  reduce  our  aggregate  expenses  to 
$50,000,000  annually ;  but  so  long  as  sectional 
controversy  is  the  chief  employment  of  our  tim?| 


4 


80  long  aa  no  debate  ia  allowed  here  except  that 
which  involves  the  safety  of  slavery,  we  never 
can  accomplish  a  radical  reduction  of  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  Government. 

No  permanent  or  substantial  reductions  can 
be  made  without  an  earnest  co-operation  between 
the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the 
Government.  We  can  limit  appropriations,  but 
we  cannot,  except  by  the  process  of  impeach¬ 
ment,  prevent  the  misapplication  of  the  public 
money.  We  may  appropriate  for  officers  and 
clerks,  but  if  the  President  or  a  head  of  Depart¬ 
ment  will  detail  them  to  edit  a  party  newspaper, 
or  pension  them  for  party  services  by  appointing 
them  to  offices  whose  duties  they  never  perform, 
we  cannot  prevent  it.  If  the  head  of  each  De¬ 
partment  shall,  without  fear  or  favor,  administer 
his  Department,  applying  to  services  rendered 
there  precisely  the  same  rule,  as  to  fitness,  in¬ 
dustry,  and  compensation,  as  would  be  applied 
by  any  prudent  private  citizen  in  his  own  affairs, 
all  the  abuses  we  now  hear  so  much  of  would 
soon  cease. 

There  are  several  branches  of  expenditure 
which,  in  my  judgment,  Congress  could  by  wise 
legislation  reduce  without  injury  to  the  public 
service;  and  as  I  do  not  desire  to  debate  the 
several  appropriation  bills,  I  propose  to  state 
here  three  or  four  branches  of  expenditure  where 
material  reductions  might  be  made.  The  first  is 
the  expenditures  in  the  naval  service.  I  was 
unfortunately  in  the  minority  of  the  committee 
upon  the  appropriations  in  the  navy  bill.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  amount  recommended  to  be 
appropriated  for  the  construction  and  repair  of 
vessels  could  be  decreased  fully  $1,000,000  with 
a  benefit  to  the  public  service.  In  the  bill  we 
have  reported  $3,500,000  for  the  construction, 
repair,  and  equipment  of  vessels,  in  accordance 
with  the  estimates  sent  in  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy.  I  am  opposed  to  that  appropriation ; 
and  when  the  time  comes  for  the  consideration 
of  that  bill,  I  shall  move  an  amendment  to  it  in 
that  respect.  Last  session,  Congress  adopted 
some  substantial  reforms,  but  those  reforms  have 
not  been  regarded  in  the  present  navy  bill. 

There  are  other  reforms  which  ought  to  be 
made,  and  which  can  only  be  effected  by  careful 
legislation.  One  of  those  is  in  the  Post  Office 
service.  The  deficiency  in  tha^t  Department  is 
now  $6,000,000  annually;  and  if  you  restore 
the  postal  service  as  it  has  heretofore  been,  and 
i3  now  asked  for,  you  will  have  a  deficiency  of 
$8,500,000,  and  that  sum  has  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  public  Treasury.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
expenses  of  the  postal  Department  could  be  paid 
out  of  its  ordinary  receipts.  In  the  State  of 
OhioK  according  to  the  tabular  statement  sent 
to  us  by  the  Department,  the  postal  service  costs 
more  than  the  receipts ;  and  yet  there  are  con¬ 
tractors  in  that  State — men  of  the  highest  re¬ 
spectability  and  responsibility — who  are  ready 
to  engage  to  perform  all  the  postal  service  in 
Ohio  for  one-half  of  the  receipts.  Why,  sir, 
$3, 243, 9*74  is  paid  to  railroad  companies  for 
transporting  the  mails,  and  yet  these  very  mails 
are  usually  carried  in  the  same  cars  in  which 
express  companies  carry  private  property  for 


one -third  the  expense.  If  thi3  mail  matter  was 
now  carried  by  express  companies,  route  agents 
could  be  abolished.  If  the  whole  postal  service 
was  let  out,  as  it  should  be,  to  private  enter¬ 
prise — to  express  companies — I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  Post  Office  business  would  be  better 
managed,  it3  duties  better  performed,  and  a  large 
amount  of  money  saved  to  the  Government. 

As  a  general  rule,  I  take  it,  we  have  in  the 
post  offices  an  inferior  class  of  men — generally 
partisan  editors,  who  have  to  be  rewarded  for 
their  services,  or  men  who  distinguished  them¬ 
selves  by  devotion  to  their  party  in  their  several 
localities.  They  are  not  such  men  as  any  pri¬ 
vate  company  of  individuals  would  employ  to 
perform  the  same  duties. 

You  also  upon  many  routes  require  coaches  to 
be  run  for  the  benefit  of  passengers,  while  there 
is  no  connection  between  that  business  and  the 
carrying  of  mail  matter  for  distribution  among 
the  people  of  the  United  States;  $3,134,094  is 
paid  for  coach  service  alone.  I  have  no  doubt, 
if  the  United  States  was  divided  into  postal  dis- 
trict%  bounded,  as  far  as  practicable,  by  State 
lines,  and  the  business  of  carrying  all  matter 
over  all  the  postal  routes  established  by  law, 
and  its  delivery  at  the  different  post  offices,  were 
let  out  under  a  judicious  management  of  the 
Department,  the  expenditures  would  be  decreased 
at  least  to  the  amount  of  the  deficit. 

There  is  another  matter  in  which  there  should 
be  a  reform.  We  are  appropriating  a  million 
dollars  every  year  to  pay  the  ordinary  judicial 
expenses  of  the  Government  other  than  the  sala¬ 
ries  of  judicial  officers  ;  all  sorts  of  abuses  have 
grown  up  in  the  disbursement  of  that  fund.  I 
need  not  speak  specially  of  the  matters  con¬ 
nected  with  the  offices  of  your  district  attorneys 
and  your  marshals ;  for  all  gentlemen  must  be 
conversant  with  the  abuses  connected  with  those 
places.  Men  are  selected,  summoned,  and  kept 
as  jurors  and  witnesses,  because  of  their  polit¬ 
ical  opinions,  and  as  a  reward  for  political  ser¬ 
vice,  and  all  sorts  of  constructive  fees  and 
charges  are  made  and  allowed. 

But  I  am  taking  up  more  time  with  these  de¬ 
tails  than  I  intended.  If  we  could  only  manage 
these  matters  as  intelligent  business  men  manage 
their  own,  there  would  be  an  end  to  all  these 
abuses.  This  we  cannot  do,  because  parties  look 
to  the  public  money  as  the  reward  of  party  suc¬ 
cess.  If  the  Republican  party  be  charged  with 
the  administration  of  the  Government  next  year, 
as  I  trust  it  will  be,  it  may  oppose  all  reform ;  it 
may  follow  the  example  of  the  Democratic  party, 
in  parcelling  out  money  and  patronage  among  its 
partisans,  without  regard  to  the  public  service ; 
but  if  so,  it  will  surely  lose  the  confidence  of  its 
supporters.  The  Republican  party  could  not 
stand  for  a  moment,  if  it  was  convicted,  as  this 
Administration  has  been,  with  the  corrupt  prac¬ 
tices  and  abuses  disclosed  by  committees  of  this 
House.  The  difference  between  the  Democratic 
and  Republican  parties  is,  that  the  disclosure  of 
corrupt  abuses  by  Democratic  officials  does  not 
seem  to  excite  censure  or  induce  removals,  while 
the  Republican  party  has  shown  a  readiness  to 
punish  such  of  its  agents  as  have  violated  their 


5 


trust.  Many  of  these  abuses  have  grown  out  of 
the  necessity  imposed  upon  the  sectional  interest 
controlling  the  Democratic  party,  to  preserve 
more  strength  in  the  Northern  States ;  and, 
therefore,  offices  are  given,  spoils  divided  out, 
newspapers  pensioned  and  edited  in  Northern 
States.  These  corruptions  and  abuses  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  bring  discredit  and  reproach  upon 
popular  institutions.  (See  Note  A,  page  8.) 

I  have  shown,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  will 
have  to  raise  sixty-five  to  seventy  millions  for 
the  next  fiscal  year.  Where  is  it  to  come  from  ? 
What  sources  of  revenue  have  we  ?  First,  we 
have  the  public  lands.  I  have  here  a  table  which 
presents  some  singular  facts  in  regard  to  these 
lands.  In  the  year  1859,  the  Government  dis¬ 
posed  of  13,540,262  acres  of  public  lands,  from 
which  it  received  $1,628,187,  or  about  a  shilling 
an  acre.  What  became  of  these  lands?  Why, 
5,106,015  acres  went  to  railroad  companies,  to 
form  their  capital  stock  ;  and  that,  not  by  the  ac¬ 
tion  of  one  party,  but  by  all  parties.  1  am  gald 
that  I  never  voted  for  such  grants.  By  the  natural 
operation  of  business,  all  these  lands  go  into  the 
hands  of  non-residents  ;  of  foreigners,  who  fur¬ 
nish  railroad  iron  on  the  security  of  these  lands. 
We  granted,  as  swamp  lands,  1,530,966  acres, 
and  in  bounty  land  warrants,  2,941,700  acres. 
The  receipts  paid  into  the  Land  Office  were  but 
$1,628,187,  while  the  expenses  of  the  land  offices, 
of  clerks,  registers,  and  ^receivers,  land  surveys, 
&c.,  amounted  to  $1,310,758;  so  that  the  net 
proceeds  of  the  revenue  from  public  lands  was 
but  $300,000. 

I  trust,  therefore,  that  the  idea  of  looking  to 
the  public  lands  as  a  source  of  revenue  will  be 
at  once  abandoned.  Let  us,  by  a  wise  system 
of  pre-emption  laws,  or  by  a  homestead  bill,  in¬ 
vite  every  man  who  desires  to  locate  on  Western 
lands  to  go  there  and  make  for  himself  a  home. 
That  is  the  only  honest,  the  only  noble,  the  only 
manly  system  of  disposing  of  the  public  lands. 
There  is  no  reason  in  the  world  why  Western 
settlers  should  pay  the  Government  for  the  lands 
they  occupy.  Their  labor  gave  to  these  lands 
their  value.  They  were  of  no  value  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  or  anybody  else  while  they  lay  there 
uncultivated.  It  i9  the  labor  of  the  hardy  men 
of  the  Western  States  that  gives  to  these  lands 
all  their  value  ;  and  yet  they  have  paid  millions 
on  millions  for  the  public  lands.  The  history 
of  each  new  State,  for  the  first  ten  years  of 
its  existence,  has  been  a  struggle  with  poverty 
and  debt.  All  the  new  States  are  laden  down 
with  debts  contracted  in  paying  for  the  public 
lands,  either  to  the  Government  or  speculators. 
It  is  idle  to  look  to  the  public  lands  as  a  source 
of  revenue. 

To  show  you  how  so  distinguished  a  gentleman 
a3  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  make  mis¬ 
takes  in  these  matters,  I  have  here  a  table  which 
presents  this  curious  state  of  facts.  Mr.  Secre¬ 
tary  Cobb  estimated  the  receipts  from  public 
lands  in  1858  at  $6,000,000.  It  turned  out  to  be 
$3,513,715  ;  and  the  great  bulk  of  that  was  paid 
for  expenses.  In  1859  he  estimated  the  receipts 
from  public  lands  at  $5,000,000.  It  turned  out 
to  be  $1,756,687.  In  1860  he  estimated  them 


first  at  $5,000,000,  and  afterwards  at  $2,500,000. 
They  have  and  will  realize  less  than  two  million. 
He  estimates  the  receipts  from  the  sales  of  pub¬ 
lic  lands  in  1861  ai  $4,000,000.  In  my  judgment, 
they  will  not  reach  $500,000,  because  I  hope  thi3 
Congress  will  pass  a  pre-emption  and  homestead 
law,  and  that  will  settle  the  question  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  lands. 

The  miscellaneous  items  found  in  the  estimates 
are  merely  receipts  from  consuls,  fines,  forfeit¬ 
ures,  and  matters  of  that  kind,  which  amount  to 
about  $1,000,000.  The  only  practical  source  of 
revenue  for  the  National  Government  is  duties  on 
imports,  and  this  is  ample  and  exclusive.  No 
country  in  the  world  has  a  finer  source  of  rev¬ 
enue  than  this.  We  import  $400,000,000  worth 
of  foreign  products  annually.  A  duty  of  ten 
per  cent,  on  that  would  amount  to  $40,000,000. 
It  was  the  boast  of  an  English  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  that  an  income  tax  of  a  shilling 
in  the  pound  would  produce  £10,000,000.  A 
duty  of  ten  per  cent,  on  our  imports  would,  at  the 
present  rate  of  importation,  produce  $40,000,000; 
and  the  importation  is  constantly  increasing. 
All  our  internal  Governments — State,  munici¬ 
pal,  town,  and  village — are  supported  by  direct 
taxation ;  but  the  National  Government,  which 
protects  us  all  alike,  looks  naturally  to  the 
duties  on  imports  for  revenue.  If  required, 
we  might  raise  a  revenue  from  this  source  of 
$100,000,000.  If  a  tax  of  twenty-five  per  cent 
were  imposed  on  importations,  it  would  produce 
that  sum.  I  trust  such  a  tax  will  not  be  im¬ 
posed,  because  it  is  unnecessary.  But  I  speak 
of  it  as  an  ample  source  of  income.  If  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  was  reduced  to  narrow  straits,  if  wr8 
were  engaged  in  war,  or  if  anything  occurred 
requiring  a  great  drain  on  our  resources,  we 
could  raise  that  amount  of  money  from  that 
source  of  revenue  alone,  without  resorting  to 
direct  taxation. 

There  never  has  been,  since  the  foundation  of 
this  Government,  a  time  when  any  other  source 
of  revenue  was  looked  to.  Gentlemen  talk  about 
free  trade.  Sir,  no  project  for  tree  trade  has 
ever  been  submitted  to  us  with  a  hope  of  pas¬ 
sage.  I  believe  that  if  a  project  for  free  trade 
were  to  be  carried  through  Congress,  it  would 
lose  every  member  who  voted  for  it  his  seat  in 
this  House.  Why,  sir,  the  people  of  this  country 
would  not  allow  the  raising  of  $10,000,000  by 
direct  taxation.  If  you  were  to  put  upon  the 
State  of  Ohio  a  direct  tax  of  $1,000,000,  the 
people  of  that  State  might  become  almost  as  bad 
as  the  people  of  some  of  the  Southern  States  now 
are — they  would  almost  be  in  favor  of  secession. 
The  only  questions  for  us  to  consider  in  this  con¬ 
nection  are,  how  much  revenue  is  to  be  raised, 
and  how  shall  we  levy  it?  I  say  that  it  is  ne¬ 
cessary  for  us  to  raise  $65,000,000.  Will  the 
present  tariff  furnish  that  amount  of  revenue  ? 
Every  man  answers  “no.”  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  estimates  that  the  tariff  of  1857  will 
yield  $60,000,000  for  the  next  fiscal  year.  Why, 
sir,  to  produce  a  revenue  of  $60,000,000  a  year, 
under  the  tariff  of  1857,  it  will  require  an  im¬ 
portation  of  $448,641,000.  If  the  prophecy  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  turn  out  to  be 


6 


true,  it  would  bring  about  a  commercial  revul¬ 
sion.  To  establish  or  continue  a  tariff  which 
Would  induce  an  importation  of  $500,000,000, 
would  be  to  destroy  the  manufactures  of  the 
country.  It  would  limit  our  industrial  and  pro¬ 
ducing  power  to  agriculture  alone,  when  every 
one  knows  that  diversity  of  pursuits  is  essential 
to  the  prosperity  of  a  people. 

To  import  the  amount  of  $448,000,000  annual¬ 
ly,  with  a  population  of  thirty  million  inhabit¬ 
ants,  would  give  an  importation  of  about  $15 
per  head,  or  $75  per  family,  throughout  the  Uni¬ 
ted  States.  Now,  the  highest  rates  of  import  we 
have  ever  had  prior  to  the  tariff  of  1857  were  in 
1836,  when  it  reached  the  amount  of  $10.93  per 
head,  and  in  1857,  when  the  importations  reach¬ 
ed  $11.82  per  head  ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  the  importations  of  these  two  years  prece¬ 
ded  the  greatest  commercial  revulsions  of  our 
time.  It  took  ten  years  of  economy  and  indus¬ 
try  to  recover  from  the  troubles  of  1836.  And 
now,  Mr.  Chairman,  if,  by  the  financial  policy  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  an  importation  of 
$15  per  head  is  produced,  what  will  be  the  effect 
of  it?  All  experience  teaches  that  no  people  can 
afford  to  pay,  for  foreign  productions,  $15  per 
head,  or  $75  per  family  ! 

Four  hundred  and  fifty  millions  !  When  gen¬ 
tlemen  add  to  this  amount  freight,  insurance,  the 
loss  by  false  invoices,  by  forgery  and  perjury — 
and  I  tell  them  that  under  our  present  ad  valo¬ 
rem  system  there  is  a  great  deal  of  both — when, 
in  addition,  you  take  into  computation  the  debt 
due  in  this  country  to  Europe,  by  States,  cities, 
counties,  and  railroad  companies,  amounting  to 
some  $500,000,000,  upon  which  they  are  paying 
an  interest  of  about  seven  per  cent.,  you  will  have 
an  amount  of  specie,  or  its  equivalent,  going  out 
of  the  country,  of  something  like  $550,000,000 — 
enough  to  bring  the  country  to  the  verge  of  bank¬ 
ruptcy.  Therefore  it  is  that  I  say  that,  if  the 
prophecy  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should 
turn  out  to  be  true,  it  would  prove  a  national  mis¬ 
fortune,  second  only  to  his  practice  of  living  upon 
the  public  credit. 

Mr.  MILLSON.  With  the  consent  of  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Ohio,  I  desire  to  ask  him  to  what 
he  attributes  the  commercial  disaster  and  revul¬ 
sion  in  England  and  Europe  in  1857  ? 

Mr.  SHERMAN.  My  impression  is  that,  to  a  very 
considerable  extent,  they  were  caused  by  the  wars 
then  being  carried  on.  There  were,  however, 
many  causes  which  I  do  not  propose  now  to  go 
into  a  discussion  of.  Our  own  commercial  re¬ 
vulsion  occurred  first,  when  our  people  were  in 
the  midst  of  profound  peace. 

Mr.  Chairman,  if  I  have  succeeded  in  what  I 
have  desired,  I  have  shown  that  the  tariff  of  1857 
will  not  produce  a  sufficient  revenue  to  meet  the 
wants  of  the  Government.  Will  the  tariff  meas¬ 
ure  now  presented  to  us — that  reported  from  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means — prove  sufficient 
for  that  purpose?  In  my  judgment,  it  will.  I 
do  not  approve  all  the  details  of  that  bill ;  but,  in 
my  opinion,  if  it  shall  become  a  law,  it  will  prove 
the  best-considered  tariff  that  has  ever  been 
presented  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  the  result  of  two  or  three  years’  delibera¬ 


tion  by  two  committees ;  and,  as  finally  agreed 
on,  is  based  upon  the  experience  of  the  country 
for  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years.  It  changes  sub¬ 
stantially  the  tariff  of  1857,  by  the  substitution, 
as  far  as  practicable,  of  specific  for  ad  valorem 
duties ;  and  that  change  is  in  accordance  with 
the  views  and  wishes  of  the  President,  though 
not  in  accordance  with  those  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  By  this  change,  frauds  upon  the 
revenue  of  the  Government  will,  in  a  great 
measure,  be  guarded  against.  Why,  sir,  whef.- 
in  Europe  last  summer,  I  heard  alleged  frauds 
upon  our  revenue  frequently  spoken  of,  and  gen 
erally  admitted.  In  some  cases  the  grosser 
frauds  are  practiced  by  importations  by  foreign 
firms  to  the  same  firms  under  other  names  in 
this  country.  The  French  returns  of  exporta¬ 
tions  to  this  country  show  a  large  excess  over 
our  own  returns.  Nearly  every  French  and  Eng¬ 
lish  house  has  agents  here,  to  whom  they  send 
consignments  of  goods,  purporting  to  have  been 
sold  at  specified  rates,  upon  which  ad  valorem 
duties  are  paid  ;  but  as  soon  as  they  go  into  the 
ordinary  commerce  of  the  country,  the  prices 
are  very  much  enhanced.  With  specific  duties 
equal  to  the  average  ad  valorem  rates,  the  reve¬ 
nues  of  the  Government  would  be  increased  ten 
per  cent,  beyond  those  now  received,  simply  by 
the  suppression  of  fraud. 

Mr.  HOUSTON.  If  the  gentleman  will  allow 
me,  I  desire  to  ask  him  what  amount  of  revenue 
he  expects  will  be  derived  from  the  bill  now  under 
consideration,  if  it  should  become  a  law? 

Mr.  SHERMAN.  As  nearly  as  I  can  ascertain, 
I  think  it  will  be  likely  to  produce  about 
$65,000,000.  I  cannot,  of  course,  tell  precisely ; 
and,  since  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  did  not 
come  within  $15,000,000  or  $20,000,000,  the 
gentleman  will  excuse  me  if  I  am  not  able  to 
guess  exactly. 

Mr.  HOUSTON.  The  gentleman  from  Ohio  will 
find  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  come 
within  less  than  $100,000  for  the  first  three 
quarters  of  the  present  year. 

Mr.  SHERMAN.  In  1858,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  estimated  the  receipts  from  customs 
would  be  $60,000,000,  when  we  realized  but 
$38,671,242. 

Mr.  HOUSTON.  The  gentleman  did  not  under¬ 
stand  me.  The  estimate  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  for  the  last  three  ouarters  was  within 
$100,000  of  the  receipts. 

Mr.  SHERMAN.  I  will  do  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  justice.  In  1859,  he  estimated  the  re¬ 
ceipts  would  be  $69,500,000,  when  they  were  in 
reality  but  $48,869,879,  showing  a  discrepancy 
of  only  $20,000^000. 

Mr.  HOUSTON.  That  was  before  the  revulsion 
of  1857. 

Mr.  SHERMAN.  No,  sir  ;  it  was  for  1859.  For 
1800,  I  confess  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
has  approached  near  the  mark.  For  the  current 
fiscal  year  he  estimated  the  revenue  would  be 
$56,000,000.  We  cannot  tell  what  it  will  be,  but 
I  judge  that  it  will  reach  $54,000,000.  I  cannot 
say  exactly,  because  the  last  quarter’s  return  can¬ 
not  yet  be  known. 

I  From  the  nature  of  things,  neither  Mr.  Secre- 


7 


tary  Cobb,  nor  any  other  Secretary,  can,  under  a  | 
system  of  ad  valorem  duties,  come  within  mil¬ 
lions  of  the  actual  receipts.  An  English  Chan¬ 
cellor  of  the  Exchequer  would  consider  himself 
disgraced  if  he  did  not  estimate  within  £500,000 
of  the  revenue,  because  there  the  duties  are  spe¬ 
cific,  except,  I  believe,  about  £188,000,  which  is 
the  extent  of  the  ad  valorem  duties.  It  is  the 
very  nature  of  the  ad  valorem  duties,  that  they 
are  uncertain,  and  they  can  never  be  estimated 
by  any  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  however  intel¬ 
ligent.  Therefore  it  is,  I  say,  that  the  present 
bill  is  of  great  importance.  It  prevents  fraudu¬ 
lent  valuation.  It  gives  our  own  importers  a 
fair  chance  to  import  goods  and  to  compete  with 
the  foreigner.  Nearly  all  the  goods  imported 
into  our  country  are  by  foreigners.  The  working 
details  of  this  bill  are  an  improvement  on  the 
tariff  of  1857.  It  is  more  certain.  It  is  more 
definite.  It  gives  specific  duties.  The  tariff  of 
1857  is  made  up  of  complex  and  inconvenient 
tables.  The  number  of  tables  is  too  great ;  and 
in  some  case3  the  same  article  is  in  two  tables. 
Thus  flaxseed  comes  with  a  duty  of  ten  per  cent. ; 
and  jet  linseed,  the  same  thing,  yielding  the 
same  product,  the  same  oil,  is  admitted  duty 
free. 

This  bill,  on  the  other  hand,  fixes  three  ad  va¬ 
lorem  tables  ;  one  at  ten  per  cent.,  one  at  twenty, 
and  the  other  at  thirty.  There  is  a  number  of 
specific  duties,  and  then  there  is  the  free  list.  It 
conforms  to  our  decimal  currency,  and  the  du¬ 
ties  under  it  are  easily  calculated.  There  can  be 
but  little  dispute  about  home  and  foreign  valua¬ 
tion  under  it.  It  will  yield  a  revenue  sufficient 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Government.  For 
these  reasons,  it  is  obvious  it  ought  to  receive 
the  sanction  of  law. 

I  might  rest  with  the  reasons  already  assigned, 
but  there  is  another  reason  why  I  desire  to  have 
this  bill  passed,  and  that  is,  because  it  is  framed 
upon  the  idea  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  in  imposing  taxes,  to  do  as  little  injury  to 
the  industry  of  the  country  as  possible  ;  that 
they  are  to  be  levied  so  as  to  extend  a  reasona¬ 
ble  protection  to  all  branches  of  American  in¬ 
dustry.  Every  President  of  the  United  States, 
from  Washington  to  this  time,  has  recognised  that 
principle,  including  Mr.  Buchanan.  I  admit 
that  as  a  general  rule,  duties  operate,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  as  a  tax  upon  the  people  ; 
and  when  the  duty  i3  levied  upon  articles  we 
cannot  produce,  the  people  have,  directly  or  in¬ 
directly,  to  pay  that  tax.  But,  sir,  in  levying 
that  tax,  you  may  so  proceed  as  to  make  it  op¬ 
pressive.  You  may  make  a  tariff  to  raise  the 
sum  of  $40,000,000,  and  break  up  every  indus¬ 
trial  interest  of  the  country.  The  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  report  a  tariff  which  will  pro¬ 
duce  $65,000,000,  and  will  do  no  injury  to  any 
industrial  interest.  I  believe  that  it  will  give  a 
reasonable  fair  protection  to  the  great  interests 
of  agriculture,  manufacture,  and  commerce,  which 
lie  at  the  basis  of  the  prosperity  of  this  country. 

Mr.  MILLS  ON.  The  gentleman  has  stated  that 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  made  only  one 
good  guess  out  of  three.  The  Secretary’s  esti¬ 
mate  was  $50,000,000,  and  the  actual  receipts 
were  $49,500,000. 


Mr.  SHERMAN.  Tne  gentleman  himself  falls 
into  error.  The  estimate  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  was  $69,500,000.  After  the  fiscal  year 
had  accrued  from  July  to  December,  and  one 
quarter’s  receipts  were  known,  he  corrected  thG 
estimate,  and  made  it  $50,000,000. 

Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  no  reason  why  this  bill 
should(be  considered  a  party  measure.  It  is  not, 
and  it  should  not  be  so  considered.  The  present 
tariff,  from  the  circumstances  attending  its  pas¬ 
sage,  cannot  fairly  be  charged  to  any  party  ex¬ 
clusively.  It  is  based  upon  a  state  of  facts  that 
in  six  months  passed  away.  At  that  time,  March 
3,  1857,  most  vacant  lots  in  Iowa  were  worth 
about  $1,000  each.  If  a  man  inquired  about  the 
lot,  the  owner  would  raise  the  price  to  $1,500, 
and  if  two  men  inquired  about  it,  he  would  raise 
it  to  $5,000.  At  that  time,  everything  was  in¬ 
flated,  North,  South,  En3t,  and  West. 

In  six  months  the  bubble  burst.  In  1857, 
when  the  tariff  law  was  passed,  it  was  believed 
it  would  produce  a  revenue  sufficient  for  the 
Government.  The  average  duty  which  has  been 
realized  upon  all  articles,  including  the  free  list, 
is  fourteen  and  four-tenths  per  cent.,  while  the 
gentlemen  who  passed  the  act  believed  that  the 
average  duty  would  be  about  twenty  per  cent. ; 
so  that  it  turned  out  that  the  average  duty  paid 
did  not  amount  to  three-fourths  of  what  was  ex¬ 
pected.  The  tariff  has  involved  us  in  a  large 
debt.  And  yet  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  of  the  House, 
do  not  seem  to  be  willing  that  a  sufficient  amount 
of  money  shall  be  raised  for  Government  pur¬ 
poses  by  wise  and  well-considered  legislation. 
It  is  strange  that  an  Administration  that  ha3 
run  the  Government  into  debt  at  the  rate  of 
$17,000,000  a  year,  should  resist  an  increase  of 
revenue,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  meeting  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  Government.  It  will  go  out  on 
the  4th  of  March  next,  having  loaded  down 
its  successor  with  a  debt  of  $50,000,000,  or 
$60,000,000,  without  passing  a  single  law  in  the 
interest  of  the  people  ;  without  providing  reve¬ 
nue  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Government, 
with  a  general  load  of  discredit,  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  without  precedent  in  our  history. 

Public  Lands — 1859. 

Act  ex.  Receipts. 

Cash  sales  at  minimum  price. . .  511,477.66  $722,477.48 

Cash  sales  at  graduated  prices. .  3,450,103.54  905,739.65 

3,961,581.20  1,628,187.13 

Located  by  bounty  land  warrants  2,941 ,700.00 

Swamp  lands  to  States .  1,530,966.76 

Grant  of  land  to  States  for  rail¬ 
road  purposes . 5,108,015.00 

13,540,262.96 


Secretary  to  sign  land  patents . 

General  Land  Office,  salaries  and  contingent 

expenses . 

Offices  Surveyors  General,  salaries  and  contin¬ 
gent  expenses . 

District  land  offices,  &c. ,  salaries  and  other  ex¬ 
penses . 

Surveys  of  the  public  lands,  and  preparing  un¬ 
finished  records  of  public  and  private  sur¬ 
veys,  to  be  transferred  to  the  State  authori¬ 
ties . 


Expenditures. 

$1,500 

300,930.62 

137,105.61 

328,447  00 


542,769.23 


1,310,758.47 


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Note  A. 

Extract  from  speech  of  Earl  Grey ,  m  /7ig  British 
House  of  Lords,  April  19,  1860. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  America,  there 
is  another  point  which  I  really  must  mention. 
I  stated  to  your  lordships  that  the  President, 
with  the  most  praiseworthy  spirit,  had  written 
a  letter  to  caution  the  country  against  the  ex¬ 
treme  extravagance  which  in  modern  times  has 
prevailed ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  the  President  is 
altogether  unable  to  resist,  the  current ,  because  there 
has  been  an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  result  of  that  inquiry 
has  been  the  publication  of  a  mass  of  documents, 


which  I  am  sure  no  man  can  read  without  the 
greatest  astonishment.  Contracts  are  proven  to 
have  been  habitually  and  avowedly  made  to  promote . 
not  the  interest  of  the  public ,  but  of  the  individual 
A  physician  is  shown  to  have  been  appointed  to 
be  agent  for  the  purchase  of  coal,  who  knew 
nothing  about  coal,  who  never  did  anything  in 
the  purchase  of  coal  but  signing  the  certificates 
brought  to  him,  and  who  received  the  appoint¬ 
ment  in  order  to  share  with  others  the  profits  of 
the  contract.  More  than  this.  We  have  letters 
addressed  to  the  highest  officers  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  calling  on  them  to  grant  contracts  to  par¬ 
ticular  individuals  for  electioneering  purposes. 
One  letter  is  addressed  to  Mr.  Buchanan  himself, 
urging  him  in  the  strongest  manner  to  have  the 
contract  for  the  machinery  of  a  steam  sloop  as¬ 
signed  to  a  particular  house  in  Philadelphia, 
with  a  view  to  the  election.  There  is  no  dis¬ 
guise.  It  is  put  openly  that  it  is  of  importance, 
in  the  then  state  of  the  election,  that  the  con¬ 
tract  should  be  given  to  this  particular  house. 

I  appeal  to  your  lordships  whether,  if  a  letter 
were  addressed  to  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admi¬ 
ralty,  making  a  demand  of  that  kind,  and  it  were 
proved  that  he  had  listened  to  it  for  a  moment, 
he  would  not  by  the  universal  indignation  of  all 
parties,  in  Parliament  and  out  of  it,  be  driven 
from  the  councils  of  the  State.  [Cheers.]  But  the 
letter  to  which  I  have  referred  bore  this  endorse¬ 
ment  :  “  The  enclosed  letter  from  Col.  Patterson, 
of  Philadelphia,  is  submitted  to  the  attention  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. — J.  B.”  [Laughter.] 
Such  corruption  produces  its  natural  effects'*" 
upon  every  interest  of  the  country,  and,  above 
all,  upon  the  administration  of  justice:  Your 
lordships  are  all  aware,  that  not  many  years  ago 
the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  were  regarded  with  the  greatest  respect, 
not  only  there,  but  in  this  country.  The  judges 
were  enlightened,  honest,  honorable  men,  and 
their  diet  a  were  often  quoted  in  our  own  courts. 
How  has  this  state  of  things  altered  1  Under 
the  system  which  has  arisen  in  America,  by 
which  appointments  to  the  Supreme  Court  have 
been  used  for  party  purposes,  that  court  has  lost 
its  high  character.  It  no  longer  commands  the 
respect  which  it  did  formerly,  and  some  of  the 
decisions  which  have  been  pronounced  have  ex¬ 
cited  the  disgust  of  all  high-minded  men  in 
America.  [Hear,  hear.] 


PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1  860. 

REPUBLICAN  EXECUTIVE  CONGRESSIONAL  COMMITTEE. 

Hon.  rreston  King,  N.  Y.,  (Chairman,)  J.  W.  Grimes,  Iowa,L.  F.  S.  Foster,  Conn.,  on  the  part  of  the  Senate  ;  Hon.  E. 
B.  Washburne,  Illinois,  John  Covode,  Penn.,  (Treasurer,)  E.  G.  Spaulding,  N.  Y.,  J.  B.  Alley,  Mass.,  David  Kilgore,  Ind., 
J.  L  N.  Stratton,  N.  J. ,  on  the  part  of  tho  House  of  Representatives. 

During  the  Presidential  Campaign,  Speeches  and  Documents  will  be  supplied  at  the  following  reduced  prices :  Eight 
pages,  per  ICO,  50  cents  ;  sixteen  pages,  per  100,  $1.00 :  twenty-four  pages,  per  100,  $1.50.  Address  either  of  the  above 
Committee  GEORGE  HARRINGTON,  Secretary. 


